October saw the fewest number of homes sold in western Nevada County in the past eight months, as interest rate hikes have homebuyers pumping the brakes to better see what’s down the road, as borrowing money becomes more expensive with monthly mortgage payments pushed higher.
Ninety nine homes sold locally in October, marking a 27.8% increase from September sales and the lowest number since February, when 89 sales were recorded. Year over year, according to Multiple Listing Service statistics, sales were off 23.3% from October 2021’s 129 homes sold.
Though statewide sales statistics have yet to be reported for October, the California Association of Realtors reported year-to-date statewide home sales were down 16.5% in September.
Seasonal slowdown on the market is typical heading into the holiday season, however last month’s 99 homes sold was the lowest volume for October in the past five years.
In the previous four years, an average of 136 homes were sold in the month of October.
The median price of a home sold in October was $525,000, the same number posted in September and one of a few key market metrics that didn’t drop month over month.
The price per square foot dropped 5.1% to $295 in October from September sales.
On average, it took 39 days on market for home sellers to have an accepted offer, down from 40 in September and up from an average of 12 days on market in October 2021.
Total inventory was down 4.7% in October with 362 homes listed for sale, marking the fourth straight month inventory declined from a high of 459 homes on the market in June. However, that’s a 21.8% increase year over year, as October 2021 had 297 homes on the local market.
Low inventory has helped to prop up prices since the pandemic-fueled sales frenzy sparked in the second half of 2020. In May, locally listed homes for sale topped 400 for the first time since May of 2020.
The month of October has seen an average of 400 homes on the market in the previous four years, with a pre-pandemic 501 homes listed in October 2019 and 516 in 2018.
There were 106 pending sales reported for October, marking a 16.5% decrease from September and down 40.4% from the 178 pending sales reported in October 2021.
Entering the fourth quarter of 2022, year-to-date sales of 1,310 reflect an 11.5% decrease from the prior year’s 1,481 homes sold through October.
Brian Hamilton is a Realtor (Lic.# 02149112) for the Betsy Hamilton Real Estate Team (Lic.# 01936209) at RE/MAX Gold (Lic#: 01949144) in Grass Valley. For more information, contact him at Brian@BetsyHamilton.com.